Barya

바랴

female Pacific walrus (O. r. divergens) 

wild caught ≥ 2006

living at Aqua Planet Ilsan

Ancestors and Descendants

No known related animals at this time.

Transfer History

Physical Data

The dates listed here generally represent the time at which the measurements were published, not necessarily the date on which they were taken.

Weight

Length

Identifiers

Local

Image Gallery

No images available at this time.

Notes & Disclaimer

The images found here have all been gathered either from this facility's official resources or news articles.

Though her date of capture is not known, Barya was said to be 5 years old in August of 2011. 

She was first confirmed to be housed at the newly-built Kislovodsk Dolphinarium in April of 2008, though there is no information on how long she had been there prior to that point. The Dolphinarium opened later that year, but I do not know how long Varya performed there; she was exported into South Korea through Moscow, with one source stating that was transferred from the Moscow Zoo.

Barya was the first walrus to be imported into South Korea.

Following her public reveal at 63 Sea World, a naming contest was announced for Barya on August 28th, 2011. I have been thus far unable to ascertain the results of this contest -- keeping in mind that Varya, the Russian-language transliteration, was already her name in Russia at least 3 years or more prior to the naming contest. I am not certain if another name was chosen, if her name was listed as an option and reselected, or if the event was scrapped.

Barya was previously believed to have been transferred to Jeju at some point between late November to early December of 2018, although press releases from the facility published in 2025 maintain that she was moved to Ilsan in 2017. 

References